Battery.



Patented May 27,` |902. G. S. BENNETT.

BATTERY.

(Application filed Aug. 6, 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNITED Y STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE SEDOM BENNETT, OFKSANFRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH W.THATCHER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,253, dated May27,1902.

Application tiled August 6, 1901. Serial No. 71,095. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may con/cern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SEDoM BEN- NETT, a citizen ofthe .UnitedStates, 4residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco andState of California, have invented a new and useful-Battery, of whichthe follow-` ing is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improve# ments in electric batteries;and the obj ect of the invention is primarily to construct a com# pactand acceptable form of voltaic pile of simple construction and of thehighest efficiency and to render the same liquideproof and odorless, sothat it maybe carried in the` pointed out in the claims, it beingunderstood that changes may be made in the form, proportions, and minordetails without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of anelectric battery constructed and arranged in accordance with myinvention. Figs. 2 and 3 are views of detail of the battery structure,more particularly referred to hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a voltaic pile formed, as usual,from a series of positive and negative elements-in the present instance,copper and zinc separated by a layer or disk of felt or similarabsorbent material- 2 representing the copper disks, 3` the Zinc disks,and 4E the disks of felt or other absorbent material. The disks are allcentrally perforated, and through the line of perforation extends ametallic rod 5, surrounded by a tube 6, of rubber or similarnon-conducting material, the lower end of the rod being screwthreadedand provided with a nut 7, also of conducting material,wl1ich is inelectrical contact with the lowermost element of the battery. The pileis removably tted within an elongated i cylindrical' casing 8,preferably formed of hard rubber, closed at its lower end and at itsupper end being provided with internal screw -threads for the receptionof a closely-fitting cap or cover 9, also formed of hard rubber,aliquid-proof joint being formed by the screw-threaded connection whichwill prevent the escape of the acid and acid fumes. Extending. centrallythrough the cap is a threaded collar 10, having a lower flange 1l inelectrical contact with the uppermost ele-'- ment ofthe battery, thiscollar forming one of thebattery-terminals. Through the collar extendboth the rod 5 and the insulatingtube 6,\the latter terminating at theupper end of the collar, at whichjpoint a disk la is placed around therod 5, and the upper end of the rod is firmly secured to a contact-block15, forming the opposite battery-terminal.

The various battery elements are held to the cap or collar 9 and clampedin place by the nut 7, so that the unscrewing of the cap or cover fromthe containing casing will enable the removal of the battery as a whole.

The disks 4 are saturated with an electrolyte of any suitable characterand are clamped by the nut 7 between the positive and negative elementsof each series. In order to prevent excessive compression of theabsorbent disks andthe consequent reduction of their capacity for theabsorption of the electrolyte, thecentral perforations 4 of the disks.it are somewhat larger in diameter than the alining perforations of theelements, and in this enlarged perforation is placed a small collar 17,of hard rubber, vulcanite, or other non-conducting materials, having acentral'opening 18, which will permit the passage of the tube 6, andbeing of a height .about equal to the thickness of the absorbent disk.This nonconducting collar rests against and between the opposingelements of one series, and the whole series ot' collars, together withthe intervening metallic battery elements, forms a practicallyincompressible column between the collar l and the lower nut 7, the nutbeing screwed sufficiently tight to clamp all of the disks in place, butany undue compression of the absorbent material being prevented.

On the upper threaded end of the collar l0 is screwed a socket 20, withwhich is electrically connected one end of a line-wire 2l, the screwingon of the socket member bringing the line-wire into electrical contactwith the collar 10, which forms an upper terminal of the battery. Thehead of the socket member is recessed and is provided with a flange 22,on which is seated a ring 23, of insulating material, the latter forminga support for a metallic disk 24, secured to the end of the line-wire 25and held in place within the socket by an upper block 26, also ofinsulating material, the variousinsulating-sections serving to preventany contact between the plate 24 and the metal portion of the socket.The upper block 26 is removably held in place by a pin 27, so that thevarious portions of the socket member may be readily disassembled andrepaired when occasion requires.-

The plate 24 is so arranged that on the screwing up of the socket itwill be brought into electrical contact with the metallic block 14 andthe head of the conducting-rod 5, and thus place the line-wire 25 inelectrical connection with the lower end of the battery. When thebattery is to be charged, the socket member may be removed in order toprevent the soiling of the line-Wires, the latter in an apparatus ofthis kind being preferably covered by expensive silk braiding.

A battery constructed as described is liquid-proof and may be carried inthe pocket without danger of leakage or dripping of the acid Huid uponthe body or clothing, and it possesses many advantages for use inconnection with electrotherapeutics which will be readily apparent. Thebattery as a whole may be removed from the casing by simply unscrewingthe top cover, and the various battery elements may be disassembled bythe removal of the single holding-nut 7. The positive and negativeterminals are brought to a convenient point at one end, and byemployment of the socket member no auxiliary binding-post or otherterminal connections are rendered necessary.

Various slight changes may be made in the details of construction hereinspeciiied within the scope of the claims without departing from thespirit orintent of the invention, and hence I do not wish to beunderstood as limiting myself to the precise details of constructionherein set forth.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim is'- l. A batterycomprising in combination, a casing, a cap therefor, a voltaic pile, asleeve secured in the cap and forming one terminal of the battery, aconducting and supporting rod for the-pile, forming the oppositeterminal of the battery, said rod extending through but insulated fromthe sleeve and serving to firmly connect the battery elements to thecap.

2. A battery comprising a voltaic pile, a casing i'nclosing the same, acap or cover arranged at the upper end of the casing and to which thevoltaic pile is secured, terminal connections carried by said cap orcover, a socket member removable from the cap and having terminalcontacts connected to the line-wires, said contacts being adapted tomake contact with the terminal connections of the cap or cover when thesocket member is in place.

3. The combination in a battery, of a casing, a cap therefor screwinginto the casing, a voltaic pile secured to and carried by the cap, asleeve carried by the cap and forming a terminal connection from theuppermost of the battery elements, a conductor-rod passing through thesleeve and insulated therefrom and forming a terminal connection fromthe lowermost of the battery elements, and a socket member connected toone of the linewires and adapted to said sleeve, and an inner contactcarried by and insulated from the socket member and connected to theopposite line-wire, substantially as specified.

4. The combination in a battery, of a casing, a central rod ofconducting material, a series of disks of positive and negative elementssupported on said rod and insulated therefrom, said central rod being-inelectrical contact with the lowermost element, a casing cap or cover ofnon conducting material through which the central rod passes, a sleeveof conducting material passing through the cap and having a lower flangein contact with the uppermost element, and means for attaching theline-wires to the central rod and to the sleeve.

5. In the device of class specified, a socketattaching member comprisinga threaded socket electrically connected to a line-wire, a ring ofinsulating material supported on a shoulder within said socket, acontact-plate supported by said ring and in electrical contact with anopposite line-wire, and a securing-block of insulating material actingto hold said contact-plate in position.

6. A voltaic pile comprising a centrally-arranged rod of conductingmaterial, a tube of insulating material surrounding the same, alternatelayers of positive and negative electric elements arranged in series,disks of absorbent material situated between adjacent elements ofopposite properties, and separating-sleeves of insulating materialarranged around the tube at the central portions of the absorbent disksto prevent compression of said disks,-substantially as specified.

7. A voltaic pile comprising in combination, a centrally-arranged rod ofconducting material, a tube of insulating material sur- IOO rounding thesame, perforated disks of posil and a clamping-nut provided on the saidcen- 1o tive and negative properties arranged on said tral rod,substantially as specified.

tube, disks of absorbent material disposed In testimony that I claim theforegoing as between adjacent elements and having cenmy own I havehereto affixed my signature in tral perforations of a diameter greaterthan the presence of two Witnesses.

those formed in the elements, and separating- GEORGE SEDOM BENNETT..sleeves of non conducting material fitting Witnesses: around the tubeand arranged in the central JOHN H. JAMES,

perforation of each of the absorbent disks, R. B. TREAT.

